The Second Brain - A Life-Changing Productivity System

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Hey friends, in this video I'll be going over the 10 principles of Building a Second Brain, a productivity system which changed my life completely.

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00:00 Intro
01:20 Borrowed Creativity
02:12 The Capture Habit
03:18 Idea Recycling
04:22 Projects Over Categories
05:04 Slow Burns
06:50 Start With Abundance
07:59 Intermediate Packets
10:04 You Only Know What You Make
11:52 Make it Easier for Your Future Self
13:19 Keep Your Ideas Moving

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[akshayshetye]

Guys if you cant afford 2nd brain, Just use the 1st one. It's free.

[abuhamed]

"Building a second brain"

my brain: can we work on using me first? o_O

[JonMichaelDeBona]

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things." --Steve Jobs

[StudyJourney]

Ali : this online course that genuinely changed my life. Me : this yt channel that genuinely saved my life

[youtubelurker]

"Building a second brain"

Me being able to use only barely half of a functioning brain: "Interesting"

[riem]

The reason why I really love your channel Ali is that you usually come up with stuff I hear about for the first time, I personally watch a lot of productivity and self-development videos and I'm really bored of hearing the same tips and information over and over again so it's wonderful to hear about something for the first time + I really loved this second brain idea cause it totally suits me ❤

[urban]

I'd just like to say that you, Ali, have changed my mind in the past two days... I was literally sitting on the couch all day and scrolling through Instagram and watching random youtube videos. I lickily find your channel and watched a video where you were talking about productivity and about motivation. I all I need is realy just a small push and after that everything will just start moving. So after a month I have started learning Python again and playing piano. I would like to thank you for your great content, being awesome, honest and for sharing your knowledge with us! I respect your work and continue being awesome!

Best regards from Slovenia 🇸🇮
Urban

[EmilyMatthews]

Slow burns vs. heavy lifts - I love this. *The hardest part truly is starting.* Once you get past that initial friction point, then it's so much easier to get things flowing. I always think about this when I start assignments - just do the easiest stuff first to set a foundation for when there's time to sit down and do it!

[michellerevisited]

Wow, the waterproof notebook in the shower is the next level 👀

[Wingedmagician]

This is one of my favorite topics. I’ve been obsessing about this in the back of my head for years without even knowing what it was or bringing it all together. It’s a mix of gtd, pkm, “second brain”, notetaking systems, commonplaces, etc

[ioshaven]

You speak the truth.

During my college years, I found that the opposite of #8 was equally as helpful. I used to take a lot of notes when I was younger, but as you said in #9 it created debt. I would focus so much on note-taking that I never processed the information. When I looked back at my notes, it was like reading a foreign language.

From my educational experiences, I found more success in listening to lectures in their entirety. After class, I would summarize my experience and research any remaining uncertainties.

[whaledunk]

Ali Abdaal: The type of guy to buy a microwave that heats his food up 2.5% faster

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
--Seneca

[abhinavgupta]

Ali: Calls Something expensive


My Brain: Only Billionaires can afford that

[rkaur]

i dont even know what he's talking about most of the time, i just feel smarter when I watch him

[AmanManazir]

me: this second brain stuff sounds useful...maybe I should take this class.

looks at price: *o_0...never mind*

[lukeodubhda]

SUMMARY
editted down the other summarry comment lol
would recommend the book _Getting Things Done_ by David Alan (an origin of some of these ideas)


a second brain can be used as a repository of nuggets you have collected while taking in input to build new ideas from

*#1 Borrowed Creativity*
- creativity is about remixing pieces of that content + adding some enhancements of your own
--- we don't come up with whole new ideas, we _pivot_ from old ones ("good artists copy, great artists steal")
- it is easier to draw connections within this content when it's laid out in front of you rather than just in your head

*#2 The Capture Habit*
- our brains are for having ideas, not for storing them
--- google keep, evernote, notion
--- dictate voice notes
--- sync notes on kindle to evernote/notion through readwise
--- or even a waterproof notebook lmao

*#3 Idea Recycling*
- keep track of all the stuff you are creating
- ideas are not single-use. Reuse, remix + recombine

*#4 Projects over Categories*
- after capturing an idea, move it from the capture inbox into some project area, so the information will be more direct + useful
- instead of a general reference place, if it fits into something practical with goals/deadlines, put it there
- e.g. use _essay 1_ rather than just _psychology_

*#5 Slow Burns vs. Heavy Lift*
- your brain is designed for heavy lifting, but your 2nd brain is ideal for slow burns
- _Heavy Lifts_ = where you need to dedicate lots of time to completing something _significant_
- _Slow Burns_ = habits, long-term projects – it's ongoing/small chunks so you can’t keep all the information about it in your head – needs a 2nd brain

*#6 Start with Abundance*
- if you construct a 2nd brain, you will never start with a _blank page_
- you will always have dots to join, but the ideas are there + ready for you to edit
- your memory is now searchable so you can find the relevent info

*#7 Intermediate Packets*
- everything is constructed using different blocks/packets
- you might already know these packets well enough to simply drag/drop them into whatever you are trying to build
- reusing the relevent content/packets = easier to start from here than from scratch (turns into slow burn, starts it from abundance)

*#8 You only Really Know what You make*
- the content we internalise most are the things we make outselves/properly run through our personal filters
--- summarise content, write notes on books, podcast etc.
- engaging with the material will make it more familiar + more easy to manipulate going further
- this is what makes note-taking a powerful tool
- add your own insights into it

*#9 Make It Easier For Your Future Self*
- plant your seeds + your future self will reap the benefits
- put in the work now (by being detailed), don't underestimate what you might forget
- make it so it _can't_ be misinterpretted (if necesary)

*#10 Keep Your Ideas Moving*
- do not focus on perfectionism/organising your notes
- do something with the information instead.
- it is useless to store tidy/perfect information + not do anything with it




(this video seems to be aimed at _content creator_ types + I honestly don't like that I hear the same stuff so often in different places :( )

[barretkupelian]

You should do one video that brings together your workflow on how you’ve set up your second brain. Granted you’ve got a few scattered around but find that your best videos are workflow related ones.

[casachezdoom]

I discovered Obsidian not very long ago (maybe a month at the most) and what you said about your biggest regret hit home because I got the same realization of how useful it would have been all those school years and beyond. Also imagine all that accumulated useful knowledge instead of just being vague memories "oh yeah, I used to know that".

Thanks for another useful video, clear, concise, and to the point!

[ihssanejirari]

I love how generous you are when it comes to sharing information. Your tips are lifechaging. Thank you !